N/S Your take on the XFL

skymike · 02-11-2020, 11:30 PM

History repeats itself over and over.

There was the AFL. An "inferior" league filled with "reject" players until
Super Bowl III. And then Super Bowl IV. By the merger, you had dynasties in Miami, Pittsburgh, and Oakland, and for a while, the old NFL teams couldnt win a SB.

The USFL, which suicided itself, also filled with many players who became
stars in the NFL, including 1/2 of our Dome Patrol, and our most successful
coach up to that date in Jim Mora, not to mention our starting QB for how many years?

Learn from the past, before you dismiss a rising star. And personally, I'm eager to see a bunch of hungry players show their worth in Houston. Its a great entertainment value, and you'll be able to say, "I knew that guy, when...."

Also, I think this will be like being an old AFL Fan. Who knows what will happen? I'll try it.

CHA_CHING · 02-12-2020, 04:17 AM

Originally Posted by skymike

History repeats itself over and over.

There was the AFL. An "inferior" league filled with "reject" players until
Super Bowl III. And then Super Bowl IV. By the merger, you had dynasties in Miami, Pittsburgh, and Oakland, and for a while, the old NFL teams couldnt win a SB.

Pittsburgh was an NFL team. The old Steelers were pretty much bottom feeders before the merger. After the merger, NFL franchises Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Baltimore (Colts) all moved to the AFC. Baltimore played in an early SB under the AFC banner against Dallas.

Historically, the AFL had success too cause they allowed black players when the NFL wouldn't. Vince Lombardi was controversial in his era for allowing multiple black players as starters on his Packers teams, something that did not go over well with the other coaches and owners in the league. This wasn't a problem in the AFL, as they many black players, including stars in their era. Jim Brown famously retired in his prime due to the racism he endured in the old NFL before the merger.

I'm not sure if I'd call all the AFL stars rejects from the NFL, cause many of them wanted to go to those teams. I've done a lot of research and reading on the AFL, cause I was fascinated with their history. The AFL was a different beast from the NFL all together. Joe Namath had a 4,000+ passing yard season in the AFL, something unheard of in the NFL. One of the key selling points was that the AFL had the high-scoring, shoot out games. It's debatable which teams had any defenses in the AFL, cause there were tons of games that were shoot outs, some even with both teams scoring in the 40s. On lists of highest scoring games in history, I think there are still some AFL games on there to this day.

It also helped the AFL that they had teams in areas and markets that the NFL had yet to expand in. They had the Patriots in the Boston area, Dolphins down in South Florida and 2 teams in the southern Cali area (Chargers and Raiders).

I don't think this is the same situation though. The pay for the XFL and injuries will be one of it's downfalls.

02-11-2020, 11:30 PM	#1
skymike E. Side Cholo Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: The Barrio, H-town Posts: 6,089	Re: N/S Your take on the XFL History repeats itself over and over. There was the AFL. An "inferior" league filled with "reject" players until Super Bowl III. And then Super Bowl IV. By the merger, you had dynasties in Miami, Pittsburgh, and Oakland, and for a while, the old NFL teams couldnt win a SB. The USFL, which suicided itself, also filled with many players who became stars in the NFL, including 1/2 of our Dome Patrol, and our most successful coach up to that date in Jim Mora, not to mention our starting QB for how many years? Learn from the past, before you dismiss a rising star. And personally, I'm eager to see a bunch of hungry players show their worth in Houston. Its a great entertainment value, and you'll be able to say, "I knew that guy, when...." Also, I think this will be like being an old AFL Fan. Who knows what will happen? I'll try it. neugey and TheOak like this.

02-12-2020, 04:17 AM	#2
CHA_CHING 1000 Posts + Join Date: Jan 2019 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 1,159	Re: N/S Your take on the XFL Originally Posted by skymike History repeats itself over and over. There was the AFL. An "inferior" league filled with "reject" players until Super Bowl III. And then Super Bowl IV. By the merger, you had dynasties in Miami, Pittsburgh, and Oakland, and for a while, the old NFL teams couldnt win a SB. Pittsburgh was an NFL team. The old Steelers were pretty much bottom feeders before the merger. After the merger, NFL franchises Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Baltimore (Colts) all moved to the AFC. Baltimore played in an early SB under the AFC banner against Dallas. Historically, the AFL had success too cause they allowed black players when the NFL wouldn't. Vince Lombardi was controversial in his era for allowing multiple black players as starters on his Packers teams, something that did not go over well with the other coaches and owners in the league. This wasn't a problem in the AFL, as they many black players, including stars in their era. Jim Brown famously retired in his prime due to the racism he endured in the old NFL before the merger. I'm not sure if I'd call all the AFL stars rejects from the NFL, cause many of them wanted to go to those teams. I've done a lot of research and reading on the AFL, cause I was fascinated with their history. The AFL was a different beast from the NFL all together. Joe Namath had a 4,000+ passing yard season in the AFL, something unheard of in the NFL. One of the key selling points was that the AFL had the high-scoring, shoot out games. It's debatable which teams had any defenses in the AFL, cause there were tons of games that were shoot outs, some even with both teams scoring in the 40s. On lists of highest scoring games in history, I think there are still some AFL games on there to this day. It also helped the AFL that they had teams in areas and markets that the NFL had yet to expand in. They had the Patriots in the Boston area, Dolphins down in South Florida and 2 teams in the southern Cali area (Chargers and Raiders). I don't think this is the same situation though. The pay for the XFL and injuries will be one of it's downfalls.